energy efficiency Archives - Michaels Energy

Oct 26

Next Up: A Wild Energy Ride

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

It has been a frothy year for the energy industry, and it will continue well into next year and beyond. How far? Heh heh. Let’s start with coal. After plummeting 30% in 2020, consumption bounced back, gaining 35% in 2021. Doing the math, that doesn’t quite get coal back to 2019 consumption. Coal plants are still closing at a breakneck pace, so consumption in the United States is bound to decline in the long haul, but will load balancers and utilities be able to keep the lights on in 2030? This is a concern to me because no source of...

Oct 12

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Middle Actors Take the Fork, Customers Take the Change

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

When I stick my neck out, it’s often nice to discover others are on board to slow down the machete. I stash potential topics in an electronic pile, and when something triggers a need, I’m ready to go. This time, a co-presenter triggered me as I was delivering an electrification presentation for the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute’s Utilities Basics Course. The co-presenter was Erin Monroe-Nye, who discussed and provided the essentials of energy efficiency programs. Erin described a scenario in which she wanted to install a cold-weather heat pump. She got resistance and a runaround from her HVAC contractor. I...

Oct 05

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GEBs The Final Chapter – Baby Steps!

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

This is my sixth and final post on Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings (GEBs), including the great interview with Doug Scott (#5) of the Great Plains Institute. This week, I will wrap up with a mishmash of items in the DOE’s GEB Roadmap. As I start this wrap-up, what I wrote three years ago comes to mind - How About Some D in DSM? Here is the gist as it applies to GEBs today: I have always found it interesting that “demand-side management,” the term that is generally used synonymously with energy efficiency programs, includes virtually no demand management whatsoever. The term...

Sep 21

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Special Rant Vlog with Performance-Based Ratemaking Guru, Doug Scott

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant, Featured Energy Rant No Comments

This week, we’re continuing our discussion on GEBs (Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings) with our special guest Doug Scott. Doug is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Great Plains Institute and is a great resource for performance-based ratemaking which is a key component of GEBs for both customers and utilities. Check out our fun conversation with Doug!

Sep 14

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Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings Part 4: Utilities Ask, Why?

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

This is the fourth in a series of posts on grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs). Here is a summary of the series: August 23 – Why GEBs? What is it, and why do it? August 31 – GEBs are difficult to achieve, beyond efficiency that should be done regardless. September 7 – What will customers think of this madness? Let’s peek at where we’ve been and where we are going. This series is based on a list of challenges noted in DOE's National Roadmap for Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings: Consumer awareness (Covered 07SEP21) Complexity (Covered 31AUG21) Utility interests (Today) Regulatory models Policymaker...

Jun 29

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PBR Me, and Spare the Ham

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Last week we explored the mélange of combinations of energy efficiency portfolio administration, delivery, and evaluation among stakeholders, including public utilities’ commissions, utilities, for-profit and non-profit administrators, and program implementers. No two states are alike. This week we will discuss a few more things from the article in Public Utilities Fortnightly, Top Performing States in Energy Efficiency. Impact of Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS) States have everything from carrots, sticks, both, or neither for meeting efficiency goals. Some states have energy efficiency resource standards. The map below, courtesy of ACEEE, shows recent EERS across the fruited plain. An EERS “is...

Jun 22

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Efficiency in Your State – Hulk Hogan v Rowdy Roddy Piper?

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

What are the key ingredients to high-performing energy efficiency programs? That is the question that came to mind as I randomly grabbed an old edition of Public Utilities Fortnightly out of my six-inch stack of unread stuff. The article is entitled Top-Performing States in Energy Efficiency by Sanem Sergici with the Brattle Group. You can read that yourself, but I only got about three paragraphs in and realized how broadly one must observe to answer the question at hand. Administrators and Delivery Contractors What is an administrator? They are responsible for the results of a portfolio of programs for a...

Jun 09

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How Running & Energy Efficiency Are Alike

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Did you know that running and energy efficiency have a lot in common? In this week's Rant, I run you through (pun intended) 12 ways they are alike. Be sure to watch until the end, where we have bloopers from the making of the video. Warning: A sense of humor and a love of energy efficiency are required!

Apr 28

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China Holds the Climate Cards

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

This week’s post is prompted by further research developing my decarbonization course scheduled for May 19, 2021, via AESP, and information provided by the American Energy Society. Would you believe the course is filling up? Just asking. I like and respect the American Energy Society for its no-spin reporting. Again, this week we are looking at carbon emissions. Last week I reported that the carbon intensity of US-generated electricity fell by 40% from 1.45 lb/kWh to 0.89 lb/kWh. This week, via Energy Society’s newsletter, Energy Matters[1], the Lawrence Berkeley Lab reported that carbon emissions are down 40% in absolute tonnage...

Next Up: A Wild Energy Ride

Middle Actors Take the Fork, Customers Take the Change

GEBs The Final Chapter – Baby Steps!

Special Rant Vlog with Performance-Based Ratemaking Guru, Doug Scott

Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings Part 4: Utilities Ask, Why?

PBR Me, and Spare the Ham

Efficiency in Your State – Hulk Hogan v Rowdy Roddy Piper?

How Running & Energy Efficiency Are Alike

China Holds the Climate Cards

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